Do not buy seeds each year. Here are a few tips how you can preserve seeds for the next year

You can save vegetable seeds you got from your home-grown veggies for the next year. Only save seeds from a selected and suitable plants, and you need to harvest the seeds at the right time and store them properly of course.. Here we shall give you basic instructions how to preserve seeds of the most popular types of vegetables. Most likely you have been buying them each year over and over again…

Tomato seeds

Before seed collection you need to allow tomatoes to fully ripen. You also collect the seeds together with the gel-like flesh that surrounds them. Place the seeds with the gel in a glass with a little water and stair it twice a day. The mixture will ferment and the seeds should sink to the bottom within five days. Drain the liquid, rinse the seeds and spread them on paper towels to let them dry.

Pepper seeds

Leave some peppers hanging on the plant until they are very ripe and become squishy. Collect the peppers, remove the seeds and spread them on paper towels to let them dry.

Photo: Pixabay

Peas and beans

Pods must be fully ripe – both peas and beans should have pods that are completely dry and even slightly brown. This is the best time to harvest the seeds of these plants. This can be up to a month after you would normally harvest peas or beans. Remove the pods from the plants and spread the seeds out on paper towels to dry. You can also leave the seeds inside the pods until the planting time comes…

How to store dry seeds?

You should store seeds in an airtight container but you must put each type of seeds in a separate paper bag. Different paper bags can be stored together. Keep seeds dry and cool. The ideal storage temperature should range from 0 and 5 °C – so the best place for storage is your refrigerator. You may add a small amount of silica gel to each container to absorb excessive moisture from the air and to keep seeds dry. If you don’t have silica you may use powdered milk. One or two tablespoons of powdered milk from a freshly opened package should do. You need to wrap the powder in a piece of cloth and place it in the container with the seeds but keep in mind that powdered milk absorbs moisture from the air for about six months.

Do not forget to label each paperback

If you are an experienced gardener you might be able to tell one type of seeds from the other ones, but nevertheless, always label each bag (you won’t be able to tell two types of tomato seeds). Always label bags with the name, variety, and date you picked them. These details are easy to forget. Make sure to use stored seed within one year. Remember, the older the seeds, the lower the ability to germinate.

Preview photo: Pixabay